-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The separatist group behind a series of bombings on a Spanish vacation island marks the 50 year anniversary of its struggle this year , a milestone that sees it no closer to achieving its goal .

Police cordon off the route leading to the location of the latest blasts in Palma de Mallorca .

ETA , which is fighting for the independence of Spain 's northern Basque region , was said to be behind three bombs that detonated on the island of Mallorca on Sunday without hurting anyone .

The latest incident appears to be part of a new wave of attacks , including another in Mallorca which killed two Civil Guard officers in July , which have left a 2006 cease-fire a distant memory .

The violent resurgence also defies Spanish government claims that the group 's operational capabilities have been broken by a series of high profile arrests in Spain and France .

ETA , blamed for more than 800 deaths and listed as a terrorist group by Spain the European Union and the United States , began campaigning for Basque independence in 1959 .

The group , whose full name Euskadi Ta Askatasuna means `` Basque Homeland and Freedom '' in the Basque language , killed what some say was its first victim in 1968 .

Since then it waged a campaign of violence against the Spanish state , targeting politicians , policemen , judges and soldiers , often clocking up numerous civilian casualties with deadly car bombs .

In 1980 alone ETA was blamed for 118 deaths , and in 1995 it nearly succeeded in assassinating Jose Maria Aznar , then leader of the opposition and later Spain 's prime minister .

On September 16 , 1998 , the organization declared a `` unilateral and indefinite '' cease-fire , raising hopes that its campaign was at an end . ETA called off the cease-fire in November 1999 , however , and 2000 saw a sharp escalation in violence .

Another unilateral cease-fire was declared in March 2005 , with ETA raising hopes for a lasting peace by declaring it `` permanent . '' It was called off by ETA in June 2006 following numerous more ETA attacks .

At the center of the struggle is a region know as Euskal Herria in Basque . The area straddles the western end of the Pyrenees , covering 20,664 square kilometers in northern Spain and southern France . See map of territory claimed by Basque separatists

Spain officially recognizes three Basque provinces , Alava , Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya . A fourth neighboring province , Navarra , is of Basque heritage . Separatists consider these four provinces plus three in France -- Basse Navarre , Labourd and Soule -- as the Basque country , with a population approaching 3 million .

The area has always possessed a fiercely independent instinct . The Basque people are the oldest indigenous ethnic group in Europe and have lived uninterrupted in the same region since the beginning of recorded history .

Their language , Euskera , which is spoken regularly by about 40 percent of Basque inhabitants , bears no relation to any other Indo-European tongue and dates back to before the Romans arrived in Spain .

For many centuries the Basques of Spain enjoyed a strong degree of autonomy .

The Basque region 's hilly landscape helped keep its people isolated from outside influences .

In the Spanish Civil War , two Basque provinces -- Guipuzcoa and Viscaya -- fought against Gen. Francisco Franco , while the provinces of Alava and Navarra fought for Franco . Under Franco 's dictatorship -LRB- 1939-75 -RRB- , most of the Basque region had its remaining autonomy rescinded . Its culture , people and language were suppressed .

ETA and its demands for an independent Basque state arose in 1959 in the midst of this suppression .

ETA has focused its activities on the Spanish side of the border . For many years France provided a safe haven for ETA members , a situation that began to change in the mid-1980s .

The organization has financed its campaign through kidnapping , bank robbery and a so-called `` revolutionary tax '' on Basque businesses -- a payment widely regarded as plain extortion .

According to the counter-terrorism office of the U.S. State Department , ETA members received training in Libya , Lebanon and Nicaragua , while the group also enjoyed close links with the Irish Republican Army . The Good Friday peace accord influenced ETA to call its cease-fire in 1998 .

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Basque separatist group ETA formed in 1959 began violent campaign in 1968

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Most recent cease-fire collapsed in 2007 despite pledges of permanence

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Group blamed for more than 800 deaths , including many civilians